Hive Mind
by Brythespy
Summary: Mysterious deaths of three dogs sparks an investigation. Meanwhile Kodi and Siku are taken back in time to the day Nome was founded, and discovers the terrible truth of how their hometown came to be. Kodi begins to hear voices in his head tell him to KILL, Will he if the voice threatens to kill his family? This is going to have a lot of CSI type stuff with Siku and Balto mainly.
1. Chapter 1

How far would a man go to protect his family? His brothers, his sisters, parents, best friends, and more recently, a girlfriend. Kodi was happy, it was a happy part of his life, nobody could argue with that. He was chosen every day to be the lead dog on his favorite job in the world. "Pulling the line" as he called it. He had a beautiful girlfriend, or, as he would prefer to use the term "mates" with, considering she was a true wolf. After nearly a year, everyone has come to accept his love for a "wild animal", and Siku now gets along with everyone in town, from dogs to humans. It's just too bad that good things don't tend to last forever.

**April 13****th, ****, 1929.**

I loved running, loved it so much that being accepted into a job where running was the core principle was possibly the best thing in my life... Well arguably the best thing in my life could be my mate Siku. She's amazing...

We were on the last leg of our near-daily run from White Mountain, a 90 mile journey west into the Alaskan Interior. I could already smell out our hometown, Nome, and as soon as I thought about who was there, waiting for me, the town came into view above the trees. This happened 4-6 times a week, yet every time I see home after the long 8 hour run, I still get a happy feeling in my gut. And so did the next event.

**The following is a seemingly un-related back story. As you read on, keep in mind these events because they **_**are**_** important to the rest of the story, though right now they will seem to not make sense.**

Nome sweet Nome

A wolf jumped out from the forest to our left, and nobody on the team was the least bit frightened, for they knew exactly who it was.

Siku, as she ran alongside the team, unable to get closer due to a change in the height of the snow, Dusty smiled at this.

"Kodi she does this every day, she really can't wait for you to get home?" Dusty said with a short laugh.

The team was still about 5 miles outside town.

"What can I say? I'd probably be doing the same thing if it were her running on this team."

Dusty smiled on the outside, but couldn't deny thoughts on the inside.

"_He never did that when we were together and I ran the mail run... He didn't..."_ She thought.

About a minute later, Siku met level ground with Kodi and the team, and ran up beside him.

"Hey Siku. Having fun there?"

"It's soooo boring without you here..."

"What about mom, or dad, or Saba, or any of the other dogs in town?"

"Boring, booooring, boooooring!" She answered each name he brought up.

"You're such a pup." Kodi said with a smile.

The team plus Siku soon pulled up in front of the post office, their everyday "finish line" so to speak.

Before Kodi was able to get out of his leads, Siku jumped him, licking him all over and nuzzling his neck.

"Haha, Siku? Siku! A little bit more affectionate today I see?" Kodi said as he was on the floor, pinned down by the small white wolf.

Siku stopped, with her tongue still out slightly, and looked at Dusty and Kirby and the others, then back down to Kodi.

"I don't care. I missed you... And... I saw something scary..." Siku explained, keeping the last part down.

"Oh really? Was it a spider? Because I will kick the spiders ass if that's what you want." Kodi said.

"No... Come on!" She got down on her front paws as she rushed me.

"Haha, just let me say bye to my teammates."

He turned to see Dusty, Ralph, Kirby, Dingo and everyone else already staring at him annoyed.

"Uh... Bye."

"GO!" They all said at the same time.

Kodi jumped a bit at their combined voice, and followed Siku. She ran off and he chased her.

Dusty looked at Kirby as Kodi and Siku turned the corner.

"Ah, they really are cute together, don't you think?" Dusty said.

Kirby nodded in agreement.

Siku and Kodi bolted down a few streets, sprinted down alleyways, passing many dogs and humans along the way.

"Hey there's that wolf pup again. She's being chased by our lead dog it looks like." One of the looking citizens said.

"Heh, reminds me of the old days when our lead dog used to chase that same husky's mom around." Wilson said as he raised his coffee to the running couple.

Kodi barked back to the man, a sort of greeting, but turned and focused on Siku. Where was she taking him?

Eventually they reached the outskirts of the town, and at this point Kodi had a hint as to where she was leading him.

"There!" She said.

It was in the middle of a large patch of land right behind Jenna's house. Kodi remembered his father saying he took this path as a short-cut to reach Jenna's house.

In the center of this field, stood a 20 foot totem pole, a symbol of cooperation between the native Inuit people and the settlers of Nome, erected about 40 years ago. How it still stood to this day lies in mystery to everyone in town.

"That? But I've shown you it before... It's just a symbol the natives gave our town back in 1885."

"Not that... Get closer to it, because I am NOT doing that again." Siku said, in a voice that Kodi had come to recognize as fear.

"What? It's just..." As he got closer, he started to hear whispering.

"You hear that?" Kodi said back to Siku.

"Yes..." Siku said. She walked back further from the totem pole.

Kodi couldn't perceive the whispering at first, but quickly realized that it was not in English.

"I... I think it's speaking to me in Inuit" Kodi said.

After he heard that there was not a reply, he turned to see Siku had walked all the way back to Jenna's house, huddling in anticipation fear.

"Huh..." Kodi said. He turned back, and walked closer to the pole, mouth still slightly open. As he neared it, the voices stopped.

He continued walking, and felt an incredible urge, it wanted him to touch noses with the wolf on the bottom of the pole... He gulped, but wanted to try it, and did so, very cautiously.

He neared the Wolfs nose on the totem pole, every inch in between seemed to last an hour... Siku stood, watching from afar. She also had the urge to touch noses with it, but she fought it off... But it looked like Kodi wasn't going to.

"Kodi! Don't do-" Kodi heard her say, but it was too late.

Kodi heard whispering again as the world froze around him and Siku's voice echoed indefinitely.

"The lesser... Lesser...LESSER... Of evils... Evils... Evils..." The voice whispered.

Kodi knew "the lesser of evils" was a term that the Inuit gave to the wolves of Alaska. They were not feared, but instead were worshipped and treated as royalty. Wolves oftentimes entered Inuit camps, and rather than be attacked by the natives, they were fed and groomed. Amazingly, the wolves never once attacked any of the Inuit tribes. The Inuit believed that wolves were "the lesser of evils" because they are still regarded as monstrous killing machines, yet they were peaceful, nice, and operated as a pack, a family group, not much unlike the Inuit people themselves.

A brilliant flash of light pierced his eyes and caused him to holler in pain. He wondered if he was blind now, as he could not see anything but white... He looked around him, first things first, he checked if Siku was still there. She was not... But something else was missing... No… _the entire town_ was missing.

"What the..."

He tried to walk, but found that he was no longer in control of his own body.

"Let us guide you." The voice whispered.

"I allow you to take over my physical form." Kodi said... But it wasn't his words.

"What is happening? Have I gone insane?" Kodi screamed in his mind, unable to speak.

"No you have not, young one. I have simply spoken _for_ you." A new voice said, it was a female voice.

"Wait... Why does that voice sound so familiar" Kodi replied in his mind.

"We have met before Kodiak." Aniu spoke.

A large white wolf formed before Kodi with not much more than a small sparkle.

"Aniu..."

"Correct my child."

"Wait, but my father is your child."

"You are all my children. Wolves, and dogs, and everything in between."

"That's good to know. But… Why can't I move? And where are we? And where is Siku? And Nome? And what was that whispering? And-"

"You ask too much young one, and do not pay attention to the answers you already know." Aniu spoke.

"_Great, she's speaking in riddles... How annoying_." Kodi thought.

"I speak in riddles because they can unlock hidden thoughts and memories deep within your conscious."

"You can read my mind... I'm sorry I guess..."

Aniu smiled and walked off a bit.

"Hey... Where are you going? I can't walk remember?"

She dissolved into the air leaving Kodi confused. He protested a bit further, but then remembered her words.

"_Apparently I should already know those answers..."_ Kodi thought.

He looked far into where Nome used to be, he recognized a few structures... They were Inuit tents, and... Wolves? Wolves roamed free with the Inuit's...

"Correct Kodiak." Aniu said.

She formed next to him with a smile.

"So this is an Inuit village?"

Aniu nodded and walked forward towards the village.

"Walk with me."

With a small spark in his neck, Kodi felt all feeling return to his legs and body. Feeling this, he then fell to the ground but instantly stood back up, catching himself a bit too late, and hoping nobody saw that.

He scurried to catch up with Aniu; she was already half way to the village.

"Aniu I know I'm not supposed to ask questions, but where is Siku? My family? Are they okay?"

"Of course they are. They noted your absence; and Siku is currently running back to Balto and Jenna to tell them about your mysterious disappearance. No matter. I'll prevent anyone from being worried."

Kodi stood confused for a sec, but then Aniu began to mutter something.

Another form began to materialize in front of Kodi, this time it was a small white wolf, running with tears in her eyes.

A faint pop and she honed them in this new world, still running, as she collided with the ground and flipped over a few times as a result of running full speed, then finding herself with zero momentum.

"Oops, still working on preserving inertia..." Aniu said.

Siku stayed still on her back for a few seconds, all four legs sticking up, as she shook the dirt from her head. It took not even a second for her to notice Kodi, and of course caused her to jump up and collide with him, once again licking him all over his face.

"Where are we? It was so weird... You just... Disappeared into thin air!" Siku said as she stood above Kodi.

"This is an Inuit village, circa 1885 before the settlers came in from the east." Kodi explained.

"Indeed." Aniu said.

The voice startled Siku, because Aniu had not yet shown herself since Siku arrived.

"Wait... Aniu!" Siku said.

As confused as Kodi was that she already knew the mysterious white wolf spirit, even more so when she ran up and hugged her, and again even more when Aniu hugged her back.

"It's great to see you again! I've missed you so..." Siku said.

"And it is great to see my little prodigy again." Aniu patted Siku's head with a paw.

"How do you two know each other?" Kodi asked.

"That's a long story for another time, Kodiak." Aniu said.

Kodi stood there with a confused look as he watched the two wolves walk off towards the village. Once they were about 15 feet ahead of Kodi, he shook his head and thought about it for a second.

"Okay seriously! How do you two know each other!" Kodi yelled ahead.

"She's my mom." Siku said as joke without turning her head.

"What the..." Kodi replied.

"Haha, that isn't entirely accurate." Aniu said back.

"Good enough for me..." Kodi said softly as he caught up with the two.

"So why did you summon us oh great one?" Siku joked, mocking her by calling her the 'great one'.

"I have brought you to your hometown, before it was called Nome." Aniu explained to both of them.

"Why?" Kodi asked.

"To show you what is hidden. I have been granted special permissions to show you the true story behind the founding of Nome. The spirit world does not allow these kinds of journeys lightly." Aniu explained.

"But... Why?" Kodi asked again.

"Shut up Kodi!" Siku snapped back.

Aniu chuckled deeply and walked ahead further; leaving the two behind, then she vanished.

"Watch for yourselves. You are not present in this world, you can only see, but cannot be seen." Her voice echoed in their heads.

Kodi and Siku looked at each other in confusion, and then walked further.

Within a minute, they were in the heart of this Inuit village. To the right Kodi noted out many similarities in the construction of the Inuit tents. They used everything from straw to walrus blubber to build them. As he sniffed a few of them out, it became obvious that most were built from Bison husk.

Kodi examined the village people, they were simple-folk, going about their daily lives. He watched one young couple as they helped bring a large bucket of water to the village. Two people, who were sitting down quite comfortably, jumped up and ran to the couple to help bring the water in.

Cooperation. As a sled-dog, Kodi loved how they worked together towards a common goal.

Siku looked to her left, noted out a few features herself. The town had a large central fire that she could only guess was used as a place for worship. Watching the fire, a small family walked up to it, and threw some seeds into the fire. They gave off small sparkles to which the children jumped in happiness. The same family then revealed a large chunk of meat on a thick branch. The man and woman of the family helped to place the food above the large open flame, but were struggling, so three men from a nearby tent came to help them out.

While Kodi watched the villagers as they worked, to the left, Siku watched the village children as they played. She smiled at the young children as they'd chased each other around in circles, throwing rocks at each other... Siku shook her head at that. It could easily be dangerous.

She then looked back at the fire at an old man. He seemed to be praying to the Inuit gods.

"These people are so nice to each other..." Kodi said.

"And these kids play nicely..." Siku added somewhat sarcastically.

Then were the wolves. No doubt the Inuit people kept wolves at their camps as working dogs, but what shocked both, especially Siku, was that they seemed to like it here. And why wouldn't they? They were cared for, respected, fed, groomed, and played with by the entire village folk. The Inuit regarded wolves as the "sons of the great spirit" as their texts translated to, and kept them around as a sign of good luck. As long as the wolves were happy, then the spirits were happy. As a result, the wolves roamed free around the village, welcome to come and go as they pleased.

Siku's heart warmed as a tiny child, most likely no older than 4, ran up to a full grown wolf. This wolf could have eaten the child in one bite, yet it got down on its belly to allow the child to pet him. The wolf even wagged his tail like a dog, earning a safe feeling for the mother of that child as she watched from in front of her tent.

Both Kodi and Siku looked ahead, down the trail they were walking, at one thing that did not fit well with the setting… A horse-drawn coach, with many people who did not even look like they were from the same planet.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Kodi said.

"Why? You don't like horse-"

Both Kodi and Siku jumped as gunshots tore through the peaceful air. Screams of agony came from all directions as the families were torn apart instantly. A few white men jumped out of the carriage, guns drawn, and attack dogs ready, they tore apart the peaceful village quickly. A few jumped out now, and had sticks set on fire, and the rest of them were shooting others with their guns.

Kodi and Siku broke down in tears as the men set tents on fire, because they had to watch as the same family ran out on fire, screaming in agony, then finally falling to the ground motionless just feet from the tent entrance as they were burnt alive…

Siku had involuntarily yelled out to another family, knowing they could not hear her, as the tent they were in also caught fire.

These men did use fire as their main weapon, though not only. Kodi and Siku were forever scarred that moment, as they watched the men light the children of the village on fire with kerosene oil, then sat back and laughed as they ran and struggled to put it out, wishing death as their only way out at this point. The same child that Siku watched pet the wolf, was picked up, and thrown into a large fire by two of the attacking men...

"I can't watch! Please let us-"

Siku was cut off by a wolf howl. Everyone, from the white men, to whoever was left of the village, looked towards the west, as a pack of wolves came running, teeth barred, ready to rip apart the invaders. Siku read their howl, Kodi being unable to do so.

"Attack the new humans. They threaten the innocent, punishable by The Almighty Aniu." Siku relayed this to Kodi, who was still huddled in fear.

Siku crawled under Kodi's frozen form as he watched in horror at the scene before them. She felt safe under his chest, and poked her head out from his legs as he sat there motionless.

The wolves hit, and they hit hard. Killing off the white men one by one, in the most brutal fashion they could think of. The Inuit villagers cheered them on, throwing treats, beef jerky and caribou slices out to the lupine heroes.

Within minutes, the battle was done. Wolves had successfully protected what was left of the village from the attacking settlers.

The wolves whimpered in shared sorrow for the lost lives of the village, Siku watched one wolf walk to, and place his huge head on the lap of a grieving woman. She was traumatized, having seen her child thrown into a fire by the settlers. Regardless, she pet the wolf, thanking him for saving the village. The wolf licked her hand in response, but had to leave with his pack soon after.

One wolf slowly walked into the town, and, again while Kodi was oblivious to it, Siku sensed it and involuntarily lowered her ears, head and tail in submission. She recognized the wolf as the alpha of the pack.

It was rare for even the packs alpha to join in a fight, but the pack has a longstanding mutual relationship with this village, and he was prepared to die if it came to that in order to save them.

He howled to his group, which Siku once again had to relay to Kodi.

"Everyone regroup. These humans are done but there will be more who threaten the innocent tribe." The pack alpha addressed to the fighting wolves.

Kodi and Siku continued to sit there, stunned, as sounds of crying women and the anger of men could be heard. The few tents that remained standing were falling themselves, and the fires blazed on into the night. This battle alone wiped out 70% of the small population, most of them, unfortunately being the children of the village.

Siku looked to Kodi, he was still shaking... Never before in his life had he seen death come so quick and swift for anyone, let alone children...

* * *

**I deleted a huge chunk of the battle because this chapter is long already lol. Stay tuned for chapter 2, as we pry further into the real origins of the settlement of Nome, Alaska.**


	2. Chapter 2

Aniu finally decided that they've seen enough, and froze the world around the two once more. She created a calming forest area for us to spawn in, and finally showed herself as well.

"Why... Did you show us that?" Siku asked.

"I cannot say exactly why, you would have to just trust me that it will come in handy in t-"

Aniu froze, leaving Siku and Kodi confused.

"Uh... Aniu?"

Both of them jumped as a loud explosion was heard.

"I can't answer that..." Aniu finally said.

The explosion seemed to have come from the clouds above, and all three of them watched as hundreds of green spheres spawned from the thick cloud cover and shot towards the ground at high speeds.

"What is that!" Kodi said.

Siku ran behind Kodi in fear, when in all honesty Kodi was just as scared.

"I shall return you to the physical world." Aniu said quickly.

With a short snap of her neck, Siku and Kodi found themselves back in Nome... Well about 10 feet above the ground.

Aniu stood her ground as the green spirits came to arrest her.

"Amarok the great, you are to commit seventy-thousand years in punishment for the impersonation of the almighty Aniu."

"Understood" Aniu said with a male voice now.

He instantly flickered for a second, and took the form of a huge black-furred wolf spirit.

"Ah, now that I am back being the almighty Amarok, how about you guys fuck off?"

"Yes master." The green spirits, who were just ready to take Amarok to punishment, now obeyed his every word. Amarok had taken control of them, and with it, he would take over the spirit world.

"AHH-" Kodi barely got to say before he and Siku hit the ground and rolled a few times.

He was on his back and watched Siku as she moved into a sitting position, shaking snow off of her smooth coat.

"She... Uh... Said she would work on that." Kodi said.

"She did seem like she was in a hurry to send us back..."

"Well, were back, that's all that matters." Kodi said.

"Holy crap it's nearly nightfall... We've been gone for 6 hours?" Kodi added.

"We should get back..." Siku said quickly.

Kodi always found Siku's apparent fear of the dark cute, but recently he has come to realize her legitimate reason for the fear, and it saddens him every time he thinks about it.

"Let's get home. No question dad will be a lot more worried about you than me." Kodi said with a laugh.

"Yeah, and I suppose I'll explain to you how I know Aniu."

Both of them stood and shook any built up snow off of their bodies before walking off.

"Lesser...lesser...lesser of evils... Evils... Evils..." The voice whispered to Kodi one last time, but he ignored it and focused on Siku tell her story.

Day 1, 11PM

Marci was an average dog, she spent her days with her friends, and she spent nights with her fiancée. The only 'not normal' thing about her was that her owner was the mayor of Nome, and many of the dogs often joked about her being the 'alpha humans dog', to which she admittedly oftentimes embraced.

Marci had said her goodbyes to her friends after a long afternoon at the beach, and was eager to get home to her family. Sure she was not 'married' as far as the rest of the town would concern, but the love she shared with her mate was endless, and from that love, spawned 4 puppies last spring.

She jumped in happiness as she neared home, eager to simply see the faces of her children and of course, her mate.

She crossed an alleyway home, and already had a bad feeling about it... This was one of the 'dark zones', one that many of the town dogs would normally avoid at all costs. It wasn't a surprise that even a tiny town like Nome had its share of crimes that were committed late at night. Her gut was right...

A faint snap echoed from down the alleyway. Something was watching her from the darkness across the alleyway.

"Okay... How cliché it is for you to sneak up on me in a dark alleyway..." She smiled.

Her smile faded as she got no reply.

"Hey... I'm not in the mood for games... Lets just to home and fuck..."

She thought it was another one of her fiancée's little games, part of his odd fetish of role playing with Marci. Most of them started with a fake attempt to rape her, and It... Wasn't the most healthy fetish, but luckily for him, Marci usually loved the game.

"H...honey?" Marci called.

A low growl emitted as she got closer, and it caused her to run. This only satisfied her attackers' bloodlust as it ran after her.

"HELP HELP SOME-"

Her cries of help we're faded, and all the could be heard from the alleyway was the faint sounds of ripping flesh, and the sounds of Marci gargling what could only be imagined as blood.

Her attacker left the scene with blood dripping from its teeth. Marci lie there in the bloodstained snow, and the wall nearest to her equally bloodstained. Her eyes were still open, and she did get a good look at her attacker... Not that it would mean a thing.

She expelled a slight gasping whimper... Her last breath, and slowly faded out of this world into darkness. Her eyes froze with the horror that she had seen, and were to stay open the way. A lost soul that night, just a few dozen feet from her front door, where her fiancée was waiting... Her owners were waiting... Each of her 4 children waiting for her return... Home.

* * *

**A quick note on this story's organization. Each event will be separated by my trademark "middle aligned, underscored topic", and each chapter will only take up one day chronologically in the story. I will NOT mess up yet another story because of my stupid failure to pay attention lol. **


	3. Chapter 3

Day 2, morning.

Kodi awoke with a yawn, and then added on a smile as he looked down. Siku had taken her usual position for sleeping, and placed her head right next to Kodi's. She said that hearing him breathe right into her ears helped her sleep better at night. It worked to calm her for some reason she could not accurately explain. Kodi once again, figured it was her lack of a father, and his breathing reminded her of even having a father... Once again, he made himself sad, but looking at Siku filled him with hope, and an irresistible urge to be everything Siku needed. And if it was a father figure, then so be it.

He carefully nudged her small body with his muzzle to wake her, and got a few noises of complaint from her, signaling that she was still pretty tired, and not wanting to get up just yet.

"Fine, I'll just go make breakfast." Kodi said with mock sarcasm.

Kodi kissed her on the head once, and then parted out into the living room.

Mr. Jones was awake already, like always, as his job needed him there early in the morning. However sluggish and lazy he seemed, almost every time Kodi walked in, a smile formed on his face. He loved dogs, and the fact that Kodi was pretty much the celebrity in town, only led him to be more proud of the little guy. With Jenna out of the house, choosing more and more to sleep with Balto at his boat, Kodi and Siku lived with Rosie and her parents much more now.

Mr. Jones stood and took a second to feel the full force of his hangover from last night's party, and walked into the kitchen. He poured two big bowls of dog food for Kodi and Siku and brought it to the garage.

Not surprisingly to Kodi, Siku jumped up now and greeted Mr. Jones as he placed the two bowls down. He knelt down to pet her for a bit, and Kodi watched with a smile at the two.

"Haha, I never knew wolves could act like dogs. You two enjoy your meal. I'm off to work!" He said, though not exactly sure why he was talking to two canines...

"Man I'm still drunk or what..." He muttered as he walked out of the garage door, wondering himself why he spoke to the dogs.

"It's good that he likes you, huh?" Kodi said.

"Yes it is. I am so happy to have a home..."

"You're a wolf though; I thought you guys would feel better in the forest?"

Siku stared at him with a flat face, more of the "duh" sort of looks.

"I've been alone my whole life... I don't have parents... Rosie and her parents are like the family I've never had!" Siku explained.

"Wait... Where do I fit in there?" Kodi asked.

Siku smiled and nuzzled his neck as he still awaited her answer.

"You're like my father, my brother, you're the family I've never had... You're my lifemate." Siku said.

"That's what I like to hear. I love that were mates... I always secretly disliked "girlfriend and boyfriend..." Just always seemed too childish for me." Kodi explained.

"Well you call me your girlfriend when you talk to your friends." Siku said.

"That's different... They..." Kodi stopped himself.

"What?"

"Well... They make jokes." He added.

"Jokes? What kind of jokes."

Kodi sighed and went to his bowl and ate a bit of it, looking back at Siku every once and a while as she stared at him the entire time.

"Kodi what kind of jokes?" Siku said in a serious tone.

He walked over to her now.

""Hey kodi how is it like to bang a wild girl from the forest?" Or "you should call your mate over... Here I'll help" then they howl like idiots... And my favorite "kodi likes to take a run on the wild side."" He finished off.

"Wow... Those assholes! And you call them friends?"

"See.. That's why I didn't tell you. They _are_ my friends. Always have been since I was born... It's all just friendly joking." Kodi said.

"Fine, but next time I see them I'm going to have a talk with them."

"Please don't..." Kodi said.

"Or maybe I'll just go tell Balto? How would he feel if he knew the town's dogs still treated wolves like shit after he saved their owners asses..."

"Siku you're taking this a bit too close to heart... It's just all in good fun... Honestly." Kodi said in a calm voice.

Siku nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay you're right. Maybe I still don't understand how you dogs act."

"Good, now eat up. I wanted to go and spend some time with my parents before my run today."

"Sounds fun."

Balto.

Balto and Jenna were asleep like they always were, in the same room, on the same deck, on the same boat. Jenna had constantly refused and ignored Balto's pleads for her to stay at Rosie's house, saying everything from "it's cold here" to "I don't want you crowding up my bachelors pad". She didn't care if the winter frost froze her fur stiff. As long as she was with Balto, her heart was happy always. And with the town still a bit weary of the wolf dog, let alone the town allowing him to be adopted by anyone, that meant that she would stay with him at his boat. She didn't feel bad about Rosie, because happily for Jenna, Rosie had become more and more occupied with her own friends, school, and her training to become a musher. Rosie may have been entering her teen years, but she would never forget about Jenna, and though it pains her, she understood her choice to stay with her mate, and still came over nearly every day to visit the two anyways.

Balto stretched and yawned, moving slightly had caused Jenna, who was resting her head on his back, to fall and hit the hard floor with a noticeable thud.

"Oops... I'm sorry my love." Balto said.

He licked the left side of her head that hit the ground as she sat up next to him.

"Not one of my gentler awakenings..." She said with her left eye closed.

"Eh, you're fine." Balto said as he rubbed her shoulders.

She strained her forearms and leaned into Balto, moaning slightly from his magic paws as they worked their way down her long back.

"Oh, I awake to a massage? How romantic." Jenna said.

"Well, I figured the moment was right. You've had a long day yesterday, then you nearly get a concussion the next morning."

"What else have you got in mind?" Jenna said with a flirtatious smile.

"What else do you want? Seriously... I will give you anything... Just say the word my love." Balto said.

"Well, how about you get down on your back and-" Jenna leaned into Balto, as a voice cut her off.

"Balto!? If I may have a word."

"Ugh it's doc... We shall continue this... Uh... Don't move... You foxy beast." Balto said as he ran out of the room.

He quickly cleared the two lower decks and reached the ramp leading down to ground level. He was greeted by the old St. Bernard and his two 'minions' as everyone called them, since they were _always_ by his side.

"Doc?" Balto asked.

"Now you know I wouldn't bother you unless it was an emergency..." Doc said.

"Really? Something wrong?"

"Marci was murdered last night..."

"Oh no..." Balto said, admittedly unfamiliar with the name.

"Marci, she was the mayors dog...?" Doc had to explain.

"Oh... OH! Marci? That's terrible! I can't believe she... Wait... Murdered?"

"Yes."

"Not trying to sound insensitive or anything, but if you guys know she was murdered, then why is it an emergency?"

"Because we have no leads."

"That's impossible! You're the best tracker in town, and surely scent or other markers could be used to trace the killer! Let me go take a look, I'll find this asshole..." Balto said.

"Balto... We have our best men on it... Nothing. They even tried the bite marks on Marci's body... Not even saliva could be traced." Doc explained.

"Wow... Looks like we've got a crafty motherfucker to work with..." Balto said.

"It would appear that way. I called you because I need your help to address the town. If this guy did kill without reason, who's to say he won't do it again."

"You've got my help doc." Balto said with a smile.

"Good. Now I'll get out of your hair, I see your son and his mate coming to visit."

"Morning son." Doc said as he passed Kodi and Siku.

"Morning sir... Hey dad. What's going on?" Kodi asked as he turned his head to Balto.

"Oh... Uh, come in. I'll tell your mother too." Balto said as he lifted his right paw, welcoming the two in.

"Hi Balto." Siku said as she passed him.

The three of them climbed down a deck onto where Jenna was at, and luckily Balto was the first to enter the room...

"Hey-" Jenna said in a seductive voice, but cut herself off as she heard more footsteps on deck.

"Uh, Jenna, pssst, kodi and Siku are here." Balto whispered.

Jenna froze for a second. She was lying there waiting for Balto to return, she was on her back, displaying all for Balto to see. She instantly stood and brushed her fur down a bit and moved the covers around, fixing up the place and herself.

"Oh Hey Kodi." She said as the two walked in.

"Hi mom."

Jenna nuzzled her son for a bit and smiled at Siku, who nodded back.

"Enjoying your morning?" Siku asked.

"We were..." Balto muttered.

"What?" Siku said

"Nothing. Now about what doc said..."

"Marci was murdered last night... And they can't find out who did it just yet..."

"What? But that's-"

"Impossible, I know. He said they've tried everything, usually only having to take 3 steps to find whoever committed a crime, when they threw everything they've got at this one and they still can't find out who did it." Balto added.

"Oh my... Marci was a good friend of Dixie's... She must be devastated..." Jenna said.

"Or scared..." Siku said out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Balto asked.

"Think about it... The attacker obviously knew what he was doing... If he has the ability to cover his tracks that perfectly and get away with it? I think it's safe to say he _will_ kill again..." Siku expertly explained.

"Uh... You're full of surprises... Aren't you afraid of the dark?" Kodi asked.

"Hey... I'm not stupid." Siku said with a serious face, but giggled at her self being serious just a second later.

"Wait... What makes you so sure it's a "he"?" Balto asked.

"Easy. The detectives are all male, if it were a female attacker, then any scent the she would be able to cover, would not be enough. The male detectives would have easily been able to detect the minutest scent of a female, even months after she left the scene. A males scent, and obviously they would over look it." Siku said.

"That's incredibly sexist... Yet so incredibly true..." Kodi said.

"It makes sense..." Balto added.

"One more reason I guessed male, was that Marci isn't exactly the least desirable female in town... Apart from Jenna and yours truly of course, she's the cutest dog in town. No doubt one of the countless males that she's turned down would be furious when she got engaged to Fredrik." Siku expertly explained.

"Wow, how do you know so much about her? I didn't even know she had a mate, let alone his name..." Balto said confused at Siku.

"Her brother runs the sled team with Kodi, and let's just say, he and I have talked..."

"What in the hell do you mean by that?" Kodi popped in, slightly angry.

"Calm down Kodi. We just talked for a bit one day while you were on a run. He needed someone to talk to... He was rejected pretty damn hard by some girl in town." Siku explained.

"Who rejected him?"

"I did." Siku said with a smile.

"Haha, that's my girl." Jenna said.

"What?! Someone on my team tried to make a move at my girl?! Who is this son of a-"

"Don't curse infront of your mother..." Balto cut him off.

"Kodi I can't tell you... Because look at you... You're already enraged. Besides. He didn't know that you and I were mates."

"Aha! So it was Sinto! That new guy... That little... chicken shit..."

"Kodi!" Siku and Balto yelled.

"Sorry..."

"So Siku... You obviously know more about the victim than anyone else here... I want you to come with me as I talk to Doc and the others." Balto said.

"Can do." Siku replied.

"Let's go then. I'd like to solve this case before any more innocent lives are taken." Balto valiantly said.

"That's my man." Jenna said.

"I'll go with Kodi and visit Rosie. Nobody said that she had to come here everyday..." Jenna added.

"You still miss her, huh?" Siku asked.

"Of course... Everyday I think about it. But no doubt I am much happier here, with Balto." She added as she nuzzled Balto for a second.

Balto and Siku, forgotten past.

The two walked down the ramp into the snow covered ground on their way to town, and had a slight awkwardness between them.

"Hey..." Siku said.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to talk about-"

"There's nothing to talk about. Don't you ever mention it again."

"I know I know... I just wanted to talk about it with you."

Balto growled and turned to Siku.

"Listen to me, nothing happened between us, nothing did, and nothing ever will. You got that?" Balto said, teeth shown.

"Balto... I love you... Like a father, nothing more. There was never anything between us... I know this. But we shouldn't ignore that night..."

"Siku just drop it... Please."

"You said you loved me... Then cried on my shoulder for three hours talking about how you 'ruined your family'... Balto you're the last person on earth I would think of that would cheat on your mate... But... Why did you say that to me? I haven't even met Kodi yet... There were ZERO ties you and I shared... To you, I was just a female wolf that you said you were in lo-"

Balto once again cut Siku off, staring her down, matching his yellow eyes hers; left eye a constant icy blue, right a crimson red.

He hid his aggression, and released her, seemingly coming to his senses.

"Ugh, damnit. I did it again... Sorry." Balto said.

"This really bothers you, huh?" Siku said.

"Of course it does... I have the best mate a guy would wish for... You're with my son and I could not be more proud of you both..."

"So? Nothing will change that. It's set in the past... I just want to know why you said it."

Balto ignored her for the most part, because the two were nearing the crime scene by accident. Balto just happened to choose the alley shortcut to the boiler room that Marci was killed in.

"Oh my... Siku don't look..." Balto said as he covered her view.

"Balto... I'm not a little girl anymore... I can handle it." She said as she pried his arms from her.

Balto let her go and she walked up to Marci's body. He was surprised that she didn't seem to be the least disturbed by death and even more surprised when she made her next move.

She put her muzzle under the body and flipped it. The lifeless corpse fell limp on the left side with a motionless plop. Luckily, it had not started to rot or smell up the place yet.

"Siku what the hell! Don't tamper with..."

Balto shut himself up and quickly walked over next to Siku... She was staring at something and slowly looked up to Balto as he came to her side.

"That's a clue... We better get doc."

Balto ran ahead, and Siku nodded then followed.

There, lied partially buried in the snow where Marci's body used to be positioned over, was a shred of orange fabric.

* * *

**I don't exactly know where I'm going with this story... It's sort of a horror/CSI sort of thing. (And I've never seen CSI lol) ideas are flowing, so expect quick updates! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

hivechap4

Day 2

Balto and Siku quickly found Doc already assembling a small crowd at the old mill, the default place that the canine residents of Nome called their conferences, which, admittedly, happened much too often...

"Ah, Balto and Siku." Doc said, then quickly turned back to another dog, relayin instructions as the dog nodded.

"Doc, we need to see you for a second." Balto said.

"Of course. I'll be right with you."

Balto nodded and turned back to Siku.

"Before we tell him, what do _you_ think it means?" Siku asked.

"Orange fabric... No doubt Marci fought back a little... In the event she would have ripped a part of whatever the attacker was wearing."

"You're saying it was a human?"

"No, no. A human wouldn't be able, let alone know how, to cover its scent from dogs... And I doubt they would bite Marci on the neck."

Balto seemed to ponder on the topic for a second, trying to recall anything else that seemed to pop into his head. Details, places, motives, anything that could lead to finding the murderer. Then... It hit him.

"That fabric... Only three dogs I know of... Well four, counting Jenna that wears a handkerchief around them..."

"Yeah, but orange?" Siku asked.

Balto froze for a second, but his silence was broken by Doc.

"You needed something?"

Balto's mind seemed to wonder at his words, they echoed in his mind, taking a long time to register into his brain as he was purely focused on something else. His hearing seemed to go out, then returned just in time for him to talk and cut off Siku.

"N-nothing at all. False alarm, Haha."

"Come on Balto, I am very busy. I'll talk to you after the address."

"Okay Mister leader sir." Balto stupidly replied. His mind was not in a forward state at the moment, and Doc caught onto this... Though he would ignore it for now.

Balto watched Doc walk away, and then turned his head to Siku, who he found was already staring back at him.

"Balto what the hell was that? You completely lost your head when you were talking to him!" Siku whispered.

"Siku... Jenna is the only one... Come on, hurry." Balto said worried, and ran out of the door.

Doc saw this, and sneered at Balto. He knew that something was left hidden, and Balto acting suspicious didn't help. He tends his gaze to Siku, who was still standing there, watching the door that Balto had sprinted out of.

"Siku? Is there something wrong?" He asked from far off.

Siku replayed his words for a while in her mind, after a while she found herself dumbstruck with her mouth slightly open.

"Nothing... Nothing at all." Siku replied without looking at him.

"Well, alright then." Doc replied, then turned to finally speak to the crowd.

Siku growled for a second, then ran out of the door too, following Balto's scent.

She caught up to him as he quickly cut a corner across an alleyway, but he showed no signs of slowing down as Siku called after him, and this began to anger her.

"Balto? You need to stop and tell me what is going on..." Siku yelled ahead.

He did not pay attention to her at all, and focused on running. They were speeding down Main Street, earning many confused looks from the towns' people.

"Hey, lookie there. The wolf pup has turned the tables and she's chasing Balto now!" He joked.

"Crazy little gal she is." Wilson replied, once again raising – this time a beer - to the two runners.

Siku had enough, before he could turn the final corner; she quickly caught up and knocked him over onto his side. She jumped him and pinned him down with her paws, growling in his face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Jenna... It's Jenna... It can't be... Not her... Not..." Balto growled back and threw her off of himself, then sprinted off.

Siku sat there confused as ever, but she was not blind... She tied the pieces together and slapped herself for not realizing something so obvious.

Jenna was the only one in town who wore an orange handkerchief...

Balto entered the crime scene, nobody was around yet... But they were on their way right now.

Balto hesitated, but took one good, long whiff of the air and snow around the body... He recognized one...

He panicked and took a step back, breathing heavily and seemingly holding back anger and tears... He did not want to... No he refused to believe Jenna did it...

Just seconds before he was ready to accept that all evidence pointed to her, a thought occurred... She was not wearing it this morning...

"... Yeah it's been gone since yesterday... ... I don't know where it is... ... At least it won't get in the way of us when we..." He remembered.

Siku ran up now behind him.

"Balto we've got to get rid of that cloth."

"Siku wait..."

"No... I won't have Jenna executed!" Siku said, then ignoring Balto's remark.

She walked over, froze for a second, and then carefully pulled the ripped piece of cloth from the snow.

"I hope you realize that tampering with evidence of a crime scene is illegal..." A voice came from behind the two.

"Kaltag? Hey man." Balto greeted as he moved I between the two trying to cover Siku from his line of sight.

"Cut it Balto. What are you two doing here?" Kaltag said.

"Just... Checking over the body one more time."

"Uh huh... So what did you-" Kaltag cut off mid sentence as he saw Siku holding a piece of orange cloth in her mouth.

Noticing this, Siku looked down at it for a second, before surprising Balto and Kaltag.

She ate it.

"Siku that's gross." Balto said with a smile, hidden from Kaltag.

"Balto... Was that-"

"No. It wasn't Jenna's. She lost her handkerchief yesterday. It could have been anyone!"

"Then why did Siku eat it..."

"I uh, think I'm going to be sick..." Siku said.

She slowly walked over to the two and eyed them both... She was seeing double.

"Siku are you alright?" Balto asked.

Concerned, he went over and propped Siku into a sitting position. She began pumping from her stomach, ready to barf.

"Ahg! It won't-"

She threw up mid sentence, breakfast, fabric piece and all, just inches from Kaltag's front paws. Balto looked down at it for a second, then back up to Siku. She did not look good...

"Siku?"

"Hey... Hey... Stop STOP YELLING AT ME!" Siku screamed.

She protested a bit, and then fell to the ground, in her own throw up, and fainted.

"Siku!"

"Oh crap what happened to her now!" Kaltag said.

"I don't know!? Go and get-"Balto cut off as he saw Doc and a few others turn a corner.

"Doc! Doc! Siku's hurt or something!" Balto yelled ahead.

Doc quickly sprinted to the three and examined Siku.

"She's fainted, most likely she ingested chemicals of some sort..."

"Yeah, she ate a piece of evidence!" Kaltag blurted out.

Balto growled at him.

"This fabric in her vomit... It's coated with iodine..."

"Doc... I know what you're thinking... But it couldn't be-"

"Jenna? No, of course not. I'd recognize her scent if it were here, plus I have confirmation in my own mind as to her whereabouts last night. You and her were fast asleep as I checked last night."

"Wait... Why were you checking on us?"

"That is not important." Doc quickly replied.

"About Siku.. Her body is reacting to the poisonous Iodine in her system... We need to get her to the vet this instant."

"I'm on it." Balto said.

He carefully picked her up by her neck, not caring that it was stained with her own vomit, but wanted to quickly get her help.

Doc looked back at the scene as Balto sprinted off with Siku. He looked down, then back at Kaltag.

"Son... We've got ourselves a tough one..." He said with a sigh to Kaltag.

Balto reached the doorway of the vets' office and scratched at the door, a familiar sign that the vet always would react to nowadays.

Dr. Osnik thought it very interesting how the town dogs already registered this place as a vet's office, and knew that he was only there to make them better. It was all too often that a dog would either bring another dog or themselves to his door step without a human to guide them. Somehow... They just knew that he'd help them.

Dr. Osnik quickly opened the door and knelt down before even seeing the two. He examined the obviously injured wolf, and instantly recognized it as Siku, the friendly town wolf pup.

"My my, what have we got now."

Balto only whimpered in response.

"Agh, if only you could talk... I need to get off of my lazy ass and finally work on that project I've had in the works since 1923... Procrastination is a terrible thing" he seemed to talk to himself.

"Ah yes. I'll see to it that your friend is up and running in no time." He said as he knelt down and gently picked her up.

Balto barked happily in response, then walked off.

"Hmm... Siku would make a great test subject... No... No. I'll wait until I get a real laboratory." He mentally argued.

**(Ha! I just made three references to three different stories in just 6 lines. I win!)**

Within an hour, Siku was well and walking. Dr. Osnik bid her goodbye and gave her a treat before closing the door behind her.

She instantly scented out Balto, and ran to find him.

She ran around a few buildings, and found that the crime scene... Was no more. Marci's body was now gone.

"Huh..." She wondered.

"Hey, Siku! You're okay now?" Balto said from behind.

"Yeah... He just had to pump some fluids into my body to neutralize the... Iodine? What was iodine on the fabric piece for?"

"We're way ahead of you, Siku. Come now, it's getting late... Doc had his crew peacefully store Marci's body for burial."

"That means... They've found out the killer?"

"Not exactly..."

"But..."

"No buts. Now come on home... Kodi and Jenna are already there waiting for us. Well deal with this in the morning."

"Fine. I can't believe I was nearly poisoned..."

"I can't believe you tried to conceal evidence by eating it..." Balto replied with a laugh.

"You seem in a good mood."

"Yeah... They eliminated Jenna as a suspect, because she was confirmed to have been with Dixie and Sylvie last night."

"Hey... Speaking of them." Siku said.

She pointed her muzzle over to the Pomeranian and the afghan hound who were walking down alley towards the town hall.

"Must be going to a party. I'm kinda glad Jenna isn't with them right now... I've got a bad feeling."

"You're paranoid." Siku said with a smile.

"Have to be." Balto replied.

Soon, Balto and Siku returned home, just in time to say goodbye to the sun for the day as its last remaining rays of sunlight broke free from the overcast above. All four of the canines rested in this room, Balto not wanting Kodi and Siku to walk home this late, and admittedly, Siku, not wanting to leave during the night. All four huddled together in one big snugly bunch of tired canines, as the freezing Alaskan air grew colder and consumed their body heat.

Four hours later, 11PM

Dixie and Sylvie were walking home alone... They were drunk, no doubt about that, and only chose to leave early from the party because they had to be somewhere early the next day. The two always stuck together, with Sylvie no longer having the slightest reason to be annoyed by the Pomeranian, what with Steele no longer part of her every sentence…

The two were more or less oblivious to the murder that took place last night... In this very alleyway... But one of them knew something... They were being watched, by a being shrouded in darkness across the alleyway. A dead zone of sorts, where no light from the town or the moon shone, and all that could be seen were the reflections of deadly eyes peering into the two wonderers.

"Hey what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with-" Dixie spoke first.

She was cut off by a loud growl... The same attacker instantly tore into Sylvie's side and ripped a bit of her fur off. She screamed a terrible sound, same as Dixie... The attacker quickly killed off the tiny annoying Pomeranian, by nearly biting her entire small head off in one bite. Sylvie tried to run, but found that a large chunk of her upper muscle had been ripped out, preventing her from running. She continued trying to limp away on three legs... Pleading the attacker not to kill her off...

She hears a low chuckle as her attacker closes in on her. Trickery felt the attacker jump onto her back, and prepares for the worst... But... Something different happened. She felt him ram his cock into her... Not only was she bleeding to death, unable to stand on one of her legs, but she was being forcefully raped at the same time. She screamed into the night, wondering why nobody was around to help.

She felt a mix of feelings, she was bleeding out, and also felt pleasure from the rapist.

She fainted of blood loss and her attacker continued with her dead body for another half hour, not caring the slightest that he was raping a, now dead, female.

The attacker was not finished with his deed, seemingly going on instinct, he began to skin the two dogs... Slowly ripping skin from flesh, leaving a red and white pulp of bloody mass. After he finished off skinning the larger of the two, he left them hanging in the alleyway by their tail as a marker.

Nobody would be there to help, and nobody would have been able to help. The two bloody carcasses that used to be known as Dixie and Sylvie, were now hanging from a low post in the same dark alleyway, left as a sort of trophy for him.

He stood back slightly and admired his handy work, but noticed a flaw. His seed was dripping down the body of the larger dog... No doubt he wouldn't get away with this much longer if they had his DNA everywhere on the body... He took one step towards the hanging bodies, ready to do something about it, before he heard crunches in the snow from around the corner.

With a short growl, he turned and disappeared into the night.

* * *

**Aha! So the killer has been revealed as Male… What other clues lie at the description of the killings?**


	5. Chapter 5

hive chap 5

Day three, mail run.

Today Kodi had a good feeling, it was like an anger inside of him that built up, was finally released. He shook his head at the thought that passed his mind as he looked over Siku. He stood, stretched his front legs far ahead, then shifted forward and did the same with his back legs. Siku awoke shortly after and looked up at him with a cute smile.

"Good morning my love." Kodi whispered.

Jenna, spoke now, turning the attention of Kodi and Siku to her.

"… ah… good morning to you too… you sexy tease…" She moaned without opening her eyes, mistaking Kodi's words as Balto's.

"And now I'm traumatized." Kodi joked with Siku.

"Haha, let's try not to wake them." Siku said as she slipped out of the doorway.

Siku came to a stop on the front bow of the grounded trawler, and peered out into open sea, that was lit with the trademark light-blue hue from a sun that was nowhere to be found yet. It was still hidden behind low cloud cover out at sea.

"Wow… Just Wow. What an amazing sight." Siku said as she leaned her head onto Kodi.

"The ocean looks so amazing right now, doesn't it?" Siku asked.

"It does. Perfect morning, and I'm here sitting with the perfect girl."

"Perfect moment too." Siku said.

"Moment for what?"

"This." Siku teased.

She jumped him and lie on top of him as he was pinned down on his backside.

The two locked in a make-out session that ended with Siku nearly fainting from lack of oxygen. "Making out" between two lifemates was a common practice, but another that the young couple were lacking, was the actual mating part of being mates.

Kodi respected Siku's request to wait until they have an actual lifemate ceremony. She tried explaining all of the rich cultural ties that wolves shared, and the hidden meanings it meant, and all of the respect and love that the two shared… But in the end she simply said "It's like a human wedding", and Kodi instantly understood.

Apart from that, Kodi knew that wolves went into heat much later in their lives than dogs, who were 'ready to go' as young as 7 months. Wolves on the other hand, waited nearly two years until they were ready to have pups.

It didn't matter though, because sex with Siku was the last thing on his mind. She was just too cute an innocent for him to try and taint it with sinister thoughts of sex. He was happy how things were going right now.

Well, almost everything…

"Kodi? Kodi! Wake up your slacker!" Kirby yelled from the ground below.

"Oh shit." Kodi shuffled quickly and pushed Siku from on top of him.

"Oh uh, sorry Siku. I'd love to spend eternity with you right here, overlooking the amazing sunrise, but we've got to run today…"

"You go. The team needs their big strong lead dog." Siku said with a smile.

"You're unreal." He complimented as he left the lower deck and followed Kirby into town.

Siku smiled at him as he ran off, he was the happiest part of her life right now, and she thought about how that joke came to be.

"… You're unreal…" She remembered.

It was part of an internal struggle that Kodi had a hard time fighting off. He simply could not believe that Siku was real, let alone interested in someone like him. Siku constantly told him that it was just low self-esteem issues and that any girl would be happy to be with him, but in the end it always ended with Kodi joking that Siku was just a figment of his imagination and that she was 'unreal'.

"Ah, Kodi…" She sighed, and looked out at the sea alone.

But not alone for long, as she soon heard paws clicking on the wood behind her, and she didn't have to turn to see who it was.

"Morning Balto." Siku said.

"A good morning it is indeed."

'Jenna still sleeping?"

"Yep, like a log she is…"

"Kodi gone?"

"Another run." Siku said.

The conversation was awkward enough without them replying to each other completely short on words. Balto came and sat next to her, looking out at the sunrise.

"Listen… I've thought about our talk last night…" Balto said.

Siku turned to him now, all attention focused on him as he refused to look her in her eyes.

"I said I loved you… Because I did, and still do."

Siku was confused by this.

"Not… Not in a weird way, no. I've never thought about wanting to… You know… I mean… Not that you're… like… ugly or something…heh heh…"

"Balto continue, I know what you mean." Siku comforted him.

"Siku, I've been resented all my life. In a way… You're a bit of an icon to me."

"An icon? What the hell?"

"Yeah."

"How… An Icon?"

"You're wolf… I've never even talked to another wolf before. Then this beautiful wolf pup shows up in an alleyway one day and I lose my mind. Not becaue I wanted to be your mate, not because you were a wolf, not because you were a pup… It was because I've found my pack."

"You're not making any sense" Siku said.

"That night… the very same day I found you hiding under that table in the alleyway, I had a talk with Boris… He said that you and I have a bond that I would share with no other dog in the world. A bond that is only pulled, and supplied by my wolf side. A pack bond. He said that I secretly regard everyone in my family, even close friends of the town, as _my_ pack, and you were simply accepted into it."

**(A reference to my other story 'Forgive Thy Enemy'. Read the whole conversation between Balto and Boris about Siku to get a better understanding of it. Look for it around the end of Chapter 4 if you want to.)**

"I suppose that makes sense… I felt the same way, you know? Though at the time I thought you were my father…"

"Haha, really?"

"Yeah. It's been over a year since I've last seen him, and I was like… A month old at that point. I barely remembered what he looked like. Then I saw you one day and followed you, thinking you were my long lost father."

"That's interesting."

Siku and Balto smiled and looked ahead, an amazing sight before them.

"So it appears that you and I share a bond… I hope Jenna and Kodi aren't the jealous type." Balto joked.

"Jenna, No. But Kodi… Did you see how he reacted towards Sinto asking me out? I'm afraid of what will happen…"

"He'll be fine. I doubt he'd even bring it up."

"They haven't left yet… Maybe I'll go talk to the both of them, try and get a read on how Kodi feels about it… I'd hate to hear about the two fighting eachother and one of them getting injured…"

"Most likely Kodi will kick Sinto's ass." Balto joked.

Siku shot him a flat stare.

"I don't even want them to have to fight…"

"See ya later Balto."

"See ya." Balto replied as he watched her run off towards town.

o-o

"Ah, Siku! Nice of you to show up. We need another runner for today…" Kirby said.

"I'm your girl. But first, where is Kodi?"

"Oh, he ran off with Sinto, saying he wanted to show him something in that alleyway back there."

"Oh for the love of-" Siku said as she ran off, leaving a confused Kirby.

"Kodi? Kodi!"

She looked around and found both of them staring at something… She couldn't see what it was because the building blocked it, but whatever it was and both of them frozen and… hugging eachother in fear?

"My god I thought you guys were killing eachother! What is-"

The sight nearly made Siku faint as she ran up and snuggled inbetween the two.

"I-i…Is that… " Siku couldn't speak.

"Sylvie and Dixie…" Kodi said frozen.

Before the three canines were the strung up, fly-ridden, and now dried bodies of Dixie and Sylvie. They were hung from a post by their tail and all skin and fur were stripped from their bodies. The snow under them was melted by the warmth of the gallons of blood that dripped from the two.

Just as Kodi and Sinto shoved away from eachother, with Siku falling into Kodi, the larger of the bodies fell off of it's post with a splash of bloody water.

Siku barfed yet again at the sight and smell, and Sinto ran off.

"G-go get… Doc… ' Kodi stammered to Sinto as he turned and nodded.

Kodi shielded Siku's gaze and dragged her out of the alleyway and back to the post office, where the team stood ready for their run.

He shook his head and spoke to Kirby, but he was still shaking from what he saw.

"Kirby… I don't… Think Siku can… R-run today." Kodi stammered.

"Siku? What about you! You look like you've just seen death! What's wrong?" Kirby asked.

Kodi shook his head, not wanting to tell them, let alone try and recall the images he's just seen.

"I can run Kodi…" Siku finally said.

Kirby teased Kodi a bit about how whatever affected him so much, obviously didn't even bother Siku.

She spoke in a clear tone, thought obviously a little bit lower. Regardless, she took the empty spot and climbed into her leads.

Kodi struggled simply to walk as the adrenaline still coursed his body. Even he was unsure why it affected him so much. Even though he's never seen a dead body-let alone a skinned, rotting one for that matter – before, he was sure that under normal circumstances that it shouldn't have affected him so.

He struggled to lift a single paw into the lead dog spot, and fell to the ground in the process.

'Kodi? The hell is wrong with you! You're not looking good as a lead dog right now…"

Kodi seemed to have some type of anxiety attack, again, for a reason that he didn't know. Something took over as he lost his sight and hearing temporarily.

Kirby and Siku ran up to him now, slapping his face, but he never replied or even reacted to the two.

Their mouths were moving but he could not hear them…

Images flooded his mind; they snapped his brain in half and seemed to take him to a new world. He gained a third person view as he watched from above an alleyway of sorts. With a flash of white, he found himself infront of Sylvie.

Another flash and he could see the body of Dixie killed and tossed aside… Then he looked behind her as the attacker could finally be seen in better light.

He instantly recognized the killer.

o-o

"…kodi… kooooodi…Kodi!?" He opened his eyes and shook around as his vision and hearing returned to normal. Siku was standing over him calling his name out, awaiting his return to the real world.

He jumped up quickly, and for a split second, shot a look at Kirby and Siku… His eyes were yellow.

"What the hell! Kodi! What's wrong with your eyes!?" Siku yelled.

He ignored them, and ran off, quickly outrunning Kirby and Siku. He ran outside town, behind Jenna's house, and quickly found the totem pole, once again.

"The deed is done." He whispered at the wolf on the totem pole.

"Good… Now enjoy your run, your team needs you…" A voice returned.

Kodi nodded in his controlled state, but soon broke from its trance.

He instantly began to shake his head and jump around crazily. Had he gone insane? What was he doing out here? And…

"I killed Sylvie, Dixie and Marci…" He said in a low voice, and then he fell to the ground crying, covering his eyes with his paws.

"And you will kill Kaltag tonight."

"AHH! Who's there!?" Kodi jumped up and yelled into the night.

"My name is not important, but you will do what I say or there will be consequences."

"I'm insane. Yep. Post-traumatic Stress or something… I'll just go home and rest…" Kodi thought.

He pushed the thoughts away, and blocked them from memory. As long as it was not he, consciously then he had nothing to worry about.

He wanted to simply run home and sleep, hopefully sleep these thoughts away, but that was not going to happen, for the team did infact need their lead dog.

Siku found him shortly after, worried, but after he explained that he simply had an anxiety attack at the sight of those... Bodies, he got into his leads and joined Siku and the team, then they were off for the next 6 hours of pure running. He loved it the same, and so did Siku. Loved running... Kodi... Loved running, and for him now, more than ever, it was a way to vent... A way to escape his problems... And boy was he dealing with a big one.

11PM

Kaltag had clocked out for the day, having been the top dog on the police force; he usually left later than the others. Today, they had to deal with two more murders… And he was determined to work through the night in order to find, or at least help, find the killer. Tonight, he setup a trap… He had walked out into the same alley, the same time as last two nights…

"11PM…" He thought.

Admittedly, he was a bit scared… This killer had offed three so far, and even took the time to rape and skin two of them, yet there was zero evidence that could be found by the best detectives on the force. He walked down to either side of the alley, sniffing about with his nose, until he was confirmed that there was not a single soul within a few hundred feet.

"Damnit!" He cursed.

The killer was a crafty one... That, or he only killed females... Kaltag thought in the issue further, and tried his hardest to match the three... All three were friends with only a single dog in town at once. Jenna. But... Of course it wouldn't be her... Would it?

Then... The orange fabric... What would that mean? Jenna also wore an orange handkerchief... This case would be set and done had the evidence pointed to her... As much as it pained Kaltag, it did. Though he could not pin the murders on her, at least not the two latest, because they were raped. More specifically, one of them were raped... Surely it couldn't be her that at least committed the second and third murders.

Kaltag was ready to call it a night and walk home, when he heard the snow shuffling behind him...

He jumped around and...

"Aha! So it's you! All this time it was you!"

He focused his gaze on none other than Ralph.

"Wait, what was me? I was just heading home..."

Kaltag looked around again, and figured that perhaps he was just a little bit tired.

"Alright then kid... False alarm. You get home quickly now, I'm sure you've heard of the events that happened in this very alleyway this very time last night..."

"The... Murders?" He stuttered.

"Yes."

"And they happened here? Then..."

Both Kaltag and Ralph froze at a sound behind them... And instantly pressed together, huddling in fear as the figure ascended from the dark corner...

"Hey guys, what are you two doing out here... Hugging?" Kirby announced before he got within full view.

"My god Kirby you scared the shit out of us..." Ralph said with a playful punch on the arm.

"Yeah, okay... Say, you should get a good nights rest... We may be without another runner tomorrow again... Even with Siku helping there will still be a slot out for Sinto." Kirby explained.

Kaltag shook his head at the two teenage dogs conversation... He looked around and sniffed about... Nothing. Surely the killer was ready to strike, but... Why didn't he? Where was he? Had something stopped this demon?


End file.
